Amazon Prime Video is back with the third season of ‘Comicstaan’. The new season comes with a new hostess, Kusha Kapila, and with eight new contestants trying to win the coveted Rs 20 Lakh prize money. Is the stand-up comedy show worth your time? Read the full review to find out.
Kreeti Gogia and Girish Narayandass
Kenny Sebastian, Zakir Khan, Sumukhi Suresh, Neeti Palta, Abish Mathew, Adesh Nichit, Shreya Priyam, Aashish Solanki, Natiq Hasan, Shamik Chakrabarti, Gurleen Pannu, Pavitra Shetty, Aman Jotwani, Kusha Kapila
Amazon Prime Video brings together eight budding stand-up comedians shortlisted through a nationwide hunt to compete to become India’s next big comic sensation. They are judged by some of the top names in today’s stand-up comedy scene in India. After two successful seasons, the third season promises to be even bigger on laughter and fun. Who will win the coveted winner’s title? Well, for that you'll have to watch the show.
Doesn’t Shy Away From Shattering The Delusions About Stand-Up Comedy
The best part of ‘Comicstaan 3’ is the way the makers have not tried to edit out the flaws and the fallacies of the profession of stand-up comedy. People watching stand-up shows or specials on OTT or even small bits on YouTube always feel that the comic has killed it in every possible stage show. However, that’s a myth. Before putting out one video online where the comic looks like they’ve nailed it, there have been a thousand failed stand-up shows where the comic must have failed miserably. However, that never gets shown to the audiences. ‘Comicstaan 3’ manages to highlight even those harsh realities of the stand-up comedy scene.
There are scenes where the contestants are fumbling badly. Some places they’re stammering. And even some when they’re completely forgetting their lines. The makers of the show could have easily chopped out those bits or allowed the contestant to perform once again so that the final product doesn’t look bad onscreen. But no! The contestants were given a severe reality check that the audience was always going to be brutal and unforgiving. If they’re forgetting their lines or fumbling, the audience is not going to give them a second chance and they’re even going to get booed out off the stage at times. This surely would have helped the budding stand-up comics to gauge what the future holds for them if they want to continue in this profession of stand-up comedy.
Another great thing about this season is that the judges didn’t sugarcoat their feedback. When the contestants were at fault they didn’t shy away from criticising them and telling it to their faces that their acts didn’t make them laugh. Not many reality shows do that, and even the previous seasons of ‘Comicstaan’ didn’t do it. So this was a welcome change to see judges actually pinpointing minor flaws and mistakes of the contestants.
Talking of the different genres of comedy explored in different episodes, the Improv episode was hands down the funniest of them all. The sketch comedy was also super fun. The rest of the genres were witty and light-hearted.
Plays Too Safe With The Jokes
The jokes throughout the eight episodes were a bit too safe. It felt as if the contestants, hosts, mentors and even the judges had been asked not to attempt a joke or a gimmick that could turn out to be remotely controversial. Not even one person cracked a political joke throughout the duration of the show. This probably could have stemmed from the fact that a few popular stand-up comics have had their run-ins with law enforcement in the past year and a half.
The level and standard of jokes, sketches and antics had been slightly better in season 2. Possibly even the quality of contestants also was better last season. But nevertheless, season 3 is much better than season 1, which was one of the most boring stand-up comedy shows ever.
Among the hosts, Kusha Kapila joins Abish Mathew, who has been a constant host throughout the previous two seasons and has been doing well. Mathew didn’t have as many funny antics as he used to do in previous seasons. Kapila can be seen hogging the better part of the limelight with better punchlines and one-liners in her script. However, it’s her hysterically loud laughter that needs to be kept in control. Otherwise, a few more episodes down the line, she would definitely start sounding like Archana Puran Singh from ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’.
‘Comicstaan’ promises to not be that hungry-for-laughs crude comedy show where judges are constantly emitting fake laughter. It does so by maintaining a college contest feel with young contestants and judges. Season 3 definitely does well in that department. It indeed has its punches and is outright falling-off-your-seat hilarious in some of the episodes. However, the better thing about this season is how the makers have put an emphasis on showing the harsh realities of the profession of stand-up comedy is what’s commendable. Had there been a few more political jokes which tried to challenge the establishment or the people in power, then it would have been a great season. Sadly, the makers have played too safe this time. Nevertheless, it’s a Good Breezy Weekend Watch. I am going with 3.5 stars.